AUSTIN — A Texas House committee voted to bar state funding for embryonic stem cell research, regardless of whether restrictions on federal funding for the research are lifted in the future.

The House State Affairs Committee voted Friday on the proposal by Rep. Bill Paxton, R-McKinney. The bill prohibits state funds from being used for biomedical research if the use of federal funds on the research was prohibited as of Jan. 1, 2007.

"I'm not for embryonic stem cell research, because I believe that life begins at conception and that's killing a living human being," said Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, the committee's chairman.

Opponents of the bill say Texas would be hampered if Congress or a future administration changes course and allows federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Embryonic stem cells interest scientists because they can morph into all the cell types in the body. Researchers hope to learn how to control them and coax them into becoming specific cell types on demand so they could grow replacements for damaged tissue.

Extracting the stem cells means destroying the embryo, which is opposed by people who believe that life begins at conception.

Advocates of the research on Monday criticized Swinford's handling of the bill.

Friday's vote came after a committee meeting that began Thursday and lasted through the night. Critics said the vote came hours after testimony concluded and while the committee was focused on an unrelated bill.

"Those of us who rely on the hope stem cell research holds, and anyone who cares about an open public dialogue, should be outraged at the manner in which the vote was taken on Friday afternoon — without discussion and while two members opposed to the bill were absent," said Judy Haley, president of Texans for the Advancement of Medical Research.